A Simplified Yoga for Today’s Busy Lifestyle

In Nature, everything happens at the appropriate moment. The solution to a crisis emerges at the moment it is needed.

I was wondering about the declaration of June 21st as the International Day of Yoga, by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, a couple of years ago. He said that the General Assembly of the UN recognizes the ‘holistic benefits of this timeless practice and its inherent compatibility with the principles and values of UN.’

Why this sudden interest now?

The answer is in the talk by the Hon. Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, to the UN General Assembly, where he says, “Yoga embodies unity of mind and body; thought and action; restraint and fulfillment; harmony between man and nature. It is not about exercise but about the sense of oneness with yourself, the world and Nature.”

The crises of today, both at the individual level (like life-threatening diseases or unbearable mental stresses) and at the global level (like terrorism, violence, economic crises, environmental disasters) all point to the divisions and differences in the human race born out of greed, hatred and vengeance, for which the cause could be prejudice and fear. The ‘original sin’ for all this seems to be the lack of awareness of one’s inherent unity with Nature and with fellow beings in the same species, or even other species, for that matter.

How can we restore this sense of unity, an awareness of interconnectedness that already exists in Nature, amongst family, neighbors in villages and cities, nations, continents, members of different races and religions? It is by the practice of Yoga that the first steps can be taken, for individual healing to start with, culminating in the global healing of the planet.

The President of the International Heartfulness Institute, Kamlesh D. Patel says, “Unification and Yoga mean the same thing, whether in the English language or Sanskrit”.

He makes the simple statement, “I have to unite myself with my maker.”

Where do we start?

Shri Kamlesh Patel says, “Yoga is not religion, not philosophy, but experience.”

Rishi Patanjali says that the definition of Yoga means ‘one that joins.’ Our lower consciousness is elevated to the highest consciousness so that we can resonate with the divine principle, and thus unification of humanity is within reach. This elevation of consciousness, harmony, and balance result in a state of inner good health.

Great creativity, intuition, clarity of mind and skills in problem solving can be facilitated by yoga of the body (Hatha Yoga), yoga of the mind (Raja Yoga), yoga of the intellect (Gnana Yoga), or Yoga of selfless action (Karma Yoga). Among these, Raja Yoga is known as the King of yogas, as it refers to the mind. It is the mind which really initiates human action. In ancient times, Raja yoga was practiced for long durations daily, for many years, before it could be really mastered. To enable meditation for long durations, without fatigue, hunger, thirst, or weakness, the sages of India developed postures (asanas) and breathing exercises (Pranayama). These two steps gave extraordinary health benefits which made them so popular all over the globe. Now, this is much simplified.

Heartfulness Institute introduces a very ancient meditation technique, refined and simplified to suit the demands of modern human beings. This fulfils a very vital need, because, the modern humans have much greater tension and stress, lesser affordable duration every day for rejuvenation of the mind and much less time to solve the problems of society – ecological, economic or ethical crises; we also have much less physical and mental stamina than even our grandparents. A simple method of meditation, which can be practiced in the comfort of our homes, may be just the right beginning that we need today.

The special features of the method include the help of Prana- Ahuthi, or Yogic Transmission from the spiritual guide to the student. Yogic Transmission prioritizes a rejuvenation of the heart which makes it very effective. Purification of the mind and the heart – emotional and spiritual heart – is considered to be very important for the final success in raising humanity to higher levels of consciousness.

Intricate and time-consuming exercises of Yoga (asanas) and breathing practices (Pranayama) are often beyond the reach of the very old, the very young, the very weak or very busy sections of the population, thanks to normal human inertia and lack of consistent willpower. However, the simple practice of Heartfulness meditation can be easily practiced, and they quickly see improvement in their daily lives. An increased sense of health, happiness, and harmony is achieved by this simple practice of meditation.

Anyone interested in human betterment at the individual or global level can experiment with Heartfulness Meditation, either at one of the Heartspots of the Institute or through the masterclasses by Daaji.

Sometimes, very simple looking practices can offer very profound unexpected blessings and breakthroughs! It did for me.

S S Ramakrishnan, was educated in Metallurgy and Materials Science Research in India and USA, 40 years ago, and served as a Professor and Doctoral Research Supervisor in an Engineering School, until his retirement 10 years ago. He attributes his excellent health at the ripe age of 73, not to the gym, nor diet, nor jogging, but to the practice of Heartfulness Meditation for the past 50 years. As a trainer of Heartfulness meditation, he has shared it with many of his students and friends in the USA and India during the past 40 years.

Heartfulness returns you to the place where you are innocent and most vulnerable. It takes you to a time when you are not capable, nor responsible of perceiving good or evil. It returns you to a space before the muddled confusion and chaos in society, or as we call it, “the real world.” Heartfulness happens in the spaces before thoughts are even concrete. It is before inhalation of breath, before I, the ego.